Fraud

The latest Kroll "Global Fraud Report" shows the incidence and cost of fraud have decreased over the last year, yet fraud still remains an important issue for all companies around the world. And a DOJ suit against Standard & Poor's highlights the need for oversight of the credit rating industry.

A federal court has permanently barred Crystal Ireland of Detroit, who does business as Master Mind Preparation, from preparing federal tax returns that claim the earned income tax credit. According to the complaint, Ireland fabricated businesses and reported fake business income on her customers' tax returns in order to claim the maximum credit for them.

On March 8, the IRS announced that its Office of Professional Responsibility obtained the disbarment of enrolled agent Lorna M. Walker for stealing a client's tax payments and for preparing tax returns with false deductions for multiple clients.

Appearing before US District Judge Margaret M. Morrow, a Los Angeles woman was sentenced February 25 to three years in prison for her role in a scheme whereby she used the identities of others to defraud the federal bankruptcy and tax systems.

Hedge fund manager and CPA administrator Jonathan Davey was convicted by a jury in Charlotte, North Carolina, on February 8 for a $40 million Ponzi scheme. Ten other defendants were also convicted in the case.

A tax return preparer in Florida allegedly falsified tax returns that cost the US Treasury more than $17 million. After examining over 250 tax returns, the IRS found that over 90 percent understated the taxpayer's liability.

Underscoring the importance of performing extensive due diligence before investing in the world's second largest economy, construction equipment giant Caterpillar got burned to the tune of $580 million.

Masood Chotani, a CPA and tax return preparer, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of engaging in a scheme to file false tax returns with the IRS using the names and Social Security numbers of deceased individuals.

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson cited the need for comprehensive tax reform as the top priority in her annual report to Congress. The report identifies problems facing taxpayers and advises Congress to take significant steps to simplify matters.

The movie was supposed to involve Hollywood giants like Kevin Costner, Ron Howard, and James Brooks. It was supposed to be based on the book "A Matter of Time" and make the book's author, Don Kirchner, a fortune.

A Florida woman – who owned or controlled undeclared foreign financial accounts in excess of $42 million in 2007 and who caused a tax loss to the government of approximately $667,716 – has been ordered to pay a $21 million civil penalty.

The Justice Department is seeking to shut down two income tax preparers for falsifying tax returns costing the US Treasury more than $100 million. According to the complaint, they repeatedly prepared tax returns that understated customers' federal tax liabilities.

Wester Cooley once belonged to the House of Representatives as a congressman from Oregon's second district. That was back in 1995 when he served one term. A lot has happened since then, and most of it hasn't been good.

It seems nobody is safe from the phishers. The AICPA works hard to keep readers aware of fraudulent e-mails from other sources. They themselves were recently used again in an attempt to hook new victims.

A New Jersey CPA was sentenced to fifty-four months in prison for a $500 billion fraud scheme. In addition to his prison term, he was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $43,582,699 in forfeiture.

It wasn't our fraud! That was a big part of the overall defense presented by two men accused of helping Texas financier R. Allen Stanford cover his tracks when he bilked trusting investors out of $7 billion.

Today's tax crime cases include that of a woman who's headed to prison for close to two years for filing at least seventy-six fraudulent income tax returns, falsely claiming refunds of approximately $533,434.

In mid-November, nine people were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of tax fraud conspiracy and identity theft. The defendants include four former athletes from USD and one current member of its football team.